There was a time early this season when Rick Halteman was preparing to write off one of his most talented shooters.The Wright City coach was having trouble getting the commitment he demanded from …
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There was a time early this season when Rick Halteman was preparing to write off one of his most talented shooters.The Wright City coach was having trouble getting the commitment he demanded from Bret Noble in the classroom, and the distraction wasn’t doing the senior any favors on the basketball court either.“He got off to a rough start,” acknowledged Halteman.But attitudes were adjusted and fences mended. Two months later, Noble is a priceless piece of the Wildcats’ puzzle.He scored a team-best 20 points during Wright City’s 83-43 drubbing of North County Christian on Tuesday.“He’s playing with a lot of confidence,” said Halteman, who sat Noble the first game of the season and limited his minutes for a stint after that. “He’s giving good effort and playing hard on both ends of the court.”“It pushed me knowing that I really had to prove to him how bad I wanted to play,” said Noble, concerning the disciplinary action. “In the first semester, he was drawing up plans without me for second semester and that really got me motivated.”Over the past seven games Noble is averaging 20.6 points per game and has not scored fewer than 17 points. He has been a sure hand from beyond the arc.“I’m moving more off the ball, trying to get better shots by running screens to get the defense confused,” said Noble. “I’m able to create opening for myself that way.”On Tuesday, Noble wasn’t the only Wildcat senior to find his shooting touch, as Ty Davis scored 18 and Christian Thompson added 16 points.“We’re really moving the ball well offensively, and making sure everybody gets touches,” said Noble.Halteman says the blowout was healthy for his team, as the Wildcats scored the first 11 points of the game and cruised out to a 25-8 lead after one quarter.“It was nice to have a game where we could get everybody involved and not play under a lot of pressure or have to battle back,” said Halteman.Wright City’s pressure in the halfcourt helped them build on their lead with transition buckets in the first half. The Wildcats had cruised to a 45-17 cushion by the break.“It really comes down to effort and focus,” said Halteman. “Sometimes we come into games lackadaisical, and I felt like tonight we came in focused and ready to go.”He was also thrilled with the balance and contribution from Thompson, who had one of his best performances of the season.“We need him to play at that level every night,” said Halteman.Coming into the season it was expected that much of the responsibility would fall on Davis, but with Noble catching fire and Thompson becoming a presence underneath the basket, that has been less of a factor.“We don’t necessarily need Ty to go out and score 30 to win,” said Halteman. “We’ve got other guys that can contribute, and I think Ty can be more efficient with his shots and not force it.”The Wildcats were scheduled to meet Eastern Missouri Conference foe Montgomery County on Thursday, before heading into the Hermann Tournament against fifth-seeded New Haven on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.NOBLE ELEVATES GAMEDerrick Forsythe photo.